Several PC and Mac connectivity issues with Airport Extreme Base Station

Hello,
This is not all necessarily airport base station related, but there is some crossover, so I'm posting all of these issues...
Here is the laundry list of things that I can't make work in a home network that contains a PC w/ XP Home, MacBook 1.83 w/ 10.4.7, and Airport Extreme Base Station w/ Modem.
1. Can't see the PC from the Mac.
a. "Connect to server -> Browse" does not find the PC
b. "ipconfig" on PC provides valid looking IP address
c. ping from mac to PC IP address times out
d. Firewall on XP is disabled via control panel
b. Windows file and printer sharing is enabled
2. Can't see mac from PC
a. Windows file sharing enabled on mac
b. Firewall on mac disabled
c. I used \\MacIPAddr\shortusername
d. ping times out
3. Using dial-up to access internet, how do i tell airport to dial using PC?
a. this feature is working fine from mac
b. If already connected (via instruction from mac), can surf the internet fine from PC
c. Is this even possible from the PC?
4. Can't see printer connected to base station from PC
a. See it fine from mac
b. How do i "find" the printer on the PC?
c. Is Bonjour required for this? (I don't have it on the PC yet)
5. Can't see a "shared" printer on the PC from the mac
a. printer is connected directly to PC
b. Mac's add printer wizardry looks like it may "see" the printer, but then it asks for username and password for PC. This is XP home, with no usernames or passwords. Single user. Nothing seems to work in the credentials pop-up dialog.
Any suggestions on any of these issues is very welcome.
Thanks

Is the PC running any kind of internet security or firewall software?
1. Can't see the PC from the Mac.
2. Can't see mac from PC
Sharing files between an XP PC and a Mac running OS 10.4.x
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3020.html
3. Using dial-up to access internet, how do i tell
airport to dial using PC?
Jon Sevy has a Java Utility for this purpose.
You will need Java in order to run the utility
http://www.java.com
4 . Can't see printer connected to base station from
PC
Printing from a Windows XP PC to a printer attached to an Airport Extreme Base Station or Airport Express
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1004.html
Printing from a Windows XP PC to a printer attached to an Airport Extreme Base Station or Airport Express using Bonjour
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1008.html
Problems with finding Printer Driver on Windows XP when using printer connected to Airport Extreme or Express
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1012.html
5. Can't see a "shared" printer on the PC from the
mac
Printing to a printer on a XP PC from a Mac running 10.4.x
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3015.html
Printing to a printer on a Mac running 10.4.x from a Windows PC using Bonjour for Windows
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3014.html
iFelix

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Networking with AirPort Extreme Base Station

I am connected to the Internet with an SBC dsl modem, which I have had for a couple of years with few problems. However, I have been having issues networking my Mac G5, 1.8 Mhz machine since I purchased it some time ago.
In the beginning (before the Mac or -- BM as I like to call it) I was using a D-Link DI-614+ router and running a desktop PC and a laptop PC wirelessly with success. Then I bought my Mac (which I dearly love) and introduced it into my wireless network. At first it seemed to work OK. Gradually and occassionally it would lock up while trying to access an Internet site. Often the problem was resolved by rebooting the DSL modem, the D-Link router and all the computers. This would give me up to several days with no problems, but then things would rapidly deteriorate and I would have connection problems again.
I thought that if I bought an Airport Extreme base station, that would solve the problems but again, at first things were fine, then rapidly went downhill. I have worked exensively with SBC dsl techs and we have determined that the problem is not with the SBC network or with their dsl modem.
As it stands now I only get a maximum of a couple of hours of time before the slowing down of the network begins. Some of the error messages I get seem to indicate that there is a problem with the distribution of IP addresses. TCP/IP is set to use DHCP, and I connect by setting PPPoE to my SBC connections settings. "Connect using PPPoE" is unchecked. Location is currently "Automatic" although I have used the connection assistant a number of times in an attempt to get the system up and running.
I have the same problems in interconnecting the Mac with the two PCs that are on my system. In fact this is even more erratic than connecting to the Internet.
I have spent many hours with my limited knowledge of these things trying to resolve these issues but have had no success. I have scoured .Mac and other Internet sources and cannot find any specific solution to this problem. I am at a real loss as to where to go next. I am hoping someone here can help or point me in a direction where I might find a solution.
Thanks,
Don
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Thank you very much for your response. Yes, the Mac is set to use PPPoE and the SBC information is stored there.
Just to clean things up, I removed the PPPoE configuration on the Mac and left it unchecked.
Here is other information about how the system is set up.
Note: + means item is checked, - means item is unchecked
Apple Base Station V5.7
WAN Ethernet Port: Automatic (Default)
+Enable SNMP Access
+Enable Remote Configuration
-Enable Default Host at
+Enable Remote Printer Access
-Enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol
Internet:
Connect Using: PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE)
+always stay connected
Network:
+Distribute IP addresses
Airport client computers:
+Share a single IP address (using DHCP and NAT)
((Use 10.0.1.1 addressing))
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Printing wirelessly to MacBook Pro with Airport Extreme Base Station

I have an Airport Extreme Base Station that I used to use wirelessly until I got Verizon Fios. The Fios technicians said the base station couldn't be used and so it's been sitting unused for a few months. However, I really, really miss printing wirelessly, and was wondering if it was possible to use the Airport Extreme Base Station ONLY to print wirelessly, and not connect it any way to my internet (I don't want to mess with any of the fios stuff at all).
If it's not possible, is there any other way to print wirelessly without purchasing another product or special printer. I have a HP c4480 printer.
Thanks!

If your printer has a USB cable the easy way to go about this in my opinion is to plug that USB cable into your Extreme base station. I have the Extreme ABS that looks like a flying saucer. I plug the usb cable into the port that has the symbol that doe NOT look like this <--> rather it looks like a Saguaro cactus.
My computer then sends print documents to the Extreme via WiFi and then Extreme sends them to the printer via the USB cable.
If your Airport status is not showing in the Mac's menubar go to system Prefs/Network/Airport and check a little box so it will show up in the menu bar.
Now if your Extreme is plugged in the wall and powered up your Mac should be able to find it. Click on that menubar item for Airport and scroll down and select your Airport Extreme. I don't know for sure what its name will be. It should still be the same as it used to be when you used it last.
Now try printing a simple document. In the print dialog window you should be able to select what printer you want to use. If your new Extreme printer is listed select it. You may need to click on Print & Fax and figure out how to select it from there, and choose it to be the new default printer.
I think this info will do the job. Whenever you want to print you have to go to the Airport icon in the menubar and change your airport connection from your Verizon stuff to your Extreme. Then of course you have to change back when you are done. That is why it would be great to toss the Verizon WiFi radio out the window and just plug your Verizon modem into your Extreme WiFi radio transceiver (router). But I understand you cannot deal with that at this time.
If this does not do the job, if I have missed something, I will bet you 5 bucks that you can still figure it out if you just look at any error messages and/or look at the Print&Fax prefs and the Print dialog windows etc. and see what I may have missed. Maybe you have to go to SystemPrefs/Sharing and allow your printer to be shared. I don't think so. The way I figure any of this stuff out is to just look at stuff and think and try things and see what happens.
Your Verizon setup should be something like this.... a cable comes into your house and goes to a 'modem'. From there and ethernet cable (CAT-5 cable) goes from that modem to your Verizon router (WiFi radio transceiver).
As for getting rid of the Verizon router, when you are ready to give it a go, simply unplug the ethernet cable (it has a plug on the end that looks like the kind of plug that telephones use to plug into the wall, except it is a bit wider, but still has that same kind of snap-lock tab) that comes from the Verizon modem (the modem has the heavy round cable and probably many blinking lights) and plug it into the Extreme. Mine has an icon on the Extreme that is many dots in a circular pattern.
At this point you may have to unplug the Verizon modem form the wall AC power and the Extreme also. Then plug them back in, wait a minute, go to your Airport icon on your Mac menubar, Select Extreme and start surfing the web.
It really is that simple with a Mac. Maybe Verizon has found a way to make things difficult but my guess is no. Any password should be taken care of in your Airport Setup Utility program. It should be the same password(s) as you used before when you used your Extreme.

Communication errors with airport extreme base station

Please help.
I am able to surf the internet wirelessly on my two macs via my Airport Extreme Base Station. However I am unable to print wirelessly via my new HP printer connected to the USB port on the base station.
More worryingly I am unable to use Airport Admin Utility, Airport Set-Up Assistant or Airport Firmware Updater. Whenever I try to use one of these applications they experience errors communicating with the base station. I wonder if this is related to the printer problem?
I have performed soft and hard resets on the base station in addition to removing the power cord - none have been sucessful.
Can anyone please help me.

I may have a solution. I recently upgraded from an ibook to a macbook pro, and had the apple store "migrate" my files, etc., from one to the other. Got it home, everything's fine, airport conects, no problem. Go to print, can't print, decide to run Airport Setup Assistant to reconfigure (why not ?) and, lo. when it gets to "Network Configuation," I get : "An Error Occured while trying to communicate with this base station." Try all the usual tricks, including hard restart (internet connection is fine throughout), but the set-up assistant couldn't get past that point. Talked to apple support, we ran through all the options. He did suggest wiping the network preferences for airport off the harddrive and starting over, but since I had a good internet connection, I decided to wait.
So here's the thing: I got on Airport Administrative Utitity, clicked "Configure," and then "Network." I know next to zip about advanced options, but I decided to click "Distribute IP Adress" And under "Airport Client Computers" selected "share a single address." I left everything else alone. It reset to to the new options, and then, out of curiosity, I opened up set-up assistant, and TA-DA, I got past the screen I was stuck on, and when the next asked me if I wanted to keep all the same settings, I said yes. I kept selecting "Keep/yes", and then saved or okayed the changes. I then got a message that it would restart base station, I was also configured to print (my printer hp laser 1320 was plugged into the base station for all this), and, yes, it does now print.
I don't know if this is the hard way of doing something that I could have done more easily, and/or if even though I had an internet connection, the base station or the set up was still looking for the ibook. I'm sorry for such a long reply, but wanted to include all the steps I took and the exact situation. Does anyone know if I've endangered my security by checkig the "Distribute IP option ?" This is a home computer. Good Luck and hope this helps someone

Printer that works with Airport Extreme Base Station

Hi. We are very new to Macs (2 weeks). Have a Mac Book and AEBS. Both work fine. Our HP printers, however, only work if connected directly to the Mac Book. I'm informed that we need to get a printer that works with the AEBS if we wish to have wireless printing. If anyone can recommend a printer that works with AEBS, we'd be grateful. Thanks.

Hello Jungle-cat. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Check out the following iFelix site to see which printers are known to work (not not) with the new 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn).

Magic Packets with AirPort Extreme base station

Ok, so I would like to be able to wake my iMac with magic packets over the internet. It is connected to the internet via an AirPort Extreme base station, and I know that it won't work over wireless networks, but the iMac is connected and gets internet via ethernet from the AirPort. Is there any way I can set up port forwarding or something like that to wake my iMac remotely?

...should I have AirPort on my iMac turned off or on...
Since you are connected via Ethernet you would turn AirPort off.
Does the connection automatically default to Ethernet, even if AirPort is set "on," because presumably Ethernet is faster.
No. It gives priority based on how they are ordered in the list of network connections.

Using an External USB soundcard with Airport Extreme Base Station

Hello, I own a macbook, an airport extreme base station and a Native Instruments Audio Kontrol 1 USB 2.0 external sound card that works like a charm with my macbook. I have a printer and a hard drive connected to the USB from the Airport base station through a hub, and I was wondering if there is any way I could make my macbook recognize the external sound card when connected to the base station's USB port. I would like to be able to play music wirelessly through the base station but the application/driver from Native Instruments does not recognize the sound card plugged to the router.
Thank you

if there is any way I could make my macbook recognize the external sound card when connected to the base station's USB port
First welcome the the Apple Discussions Forum!
To your question - it's highly unlikely, sorry!

If I set up separate 2.4 and 5GHz networks on my Airport Extreme base station, is it possible to extend just the 5HGz network?

If I set up separate 2.4 and 5GHz networks on my new Airport Extreme base station, is it possible to extend just the 5HGz network with another AirPorrt Extreme that has duel, but not simultanous, frequencies?

Yes, configure the "extending" AirPort Extreme to connect to the 5 GHz network name when you set it up.
Temporarily, locate the extending AirPort Extreme close to the main Extreme for the setup, then move it to the remote location.
But, be advised that it is not easy to extend 5 GHz using wireless. You will almost need to have line-of-sight between the two AirPorts for this to work.

Configure protocol with airport extreme base station

Need powerbook g3 wireless internet compatible password. roamabout 802.11b cabletron card does not have wpa password option. There does not appear to be a compatible encryption type to use airport extreme base station with this card.

...should I have AirPort on my iMac turned off or on...
Since you are connected via Ethernet you would turn AirPort off.
Does the connection automatically default to Ethernet, even if AirPort is set "on," because presumably Ethernet is faster.
No. It gives priority based on how they are ordered in the list of network connections.

Airport can't connect to my Airport Extreme Base Station

Hi all,
Just had this nagging problem for a couple of days. I can connect and see my aebs in airport utility but can't connect it to network in the airport menu. The network is fine and is working on my macbook, but the macbook pro can't see it. Both laptops are using 10.5.4 any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Chris

Hello paisleymum. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
You shouldn't have had to reconfigure the AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) just because you have a new MacBook. Was there a particular reason that you needed to?

Mac book cannot find airport extreme base station

Hi
Basicly, the airport utility cannot "discover" the base station. Ever so occasionally it finds it but when i click on continue it says "there was an error connecting to the network"
I have tried restarting the airport extreme several times.
Please help!!
Tom

Have you tried doing a hard reset of the AirPort Extreme base station (AEBS)?
Have you tried temporarily connecting to the AEBS via Ethernet to configure the AEBS?

How do I view a file from a usb hard drive connected to my airport extreme base station on my ipad 2?

Hi,
I just purchased the airport extreme base station. I have a usb hard drive connected to the base station. Is it possible to view this hard drive on my ipad 2? I have been unable to do it. Any help would be appreciated.

You can't, not natively. An app like FileBrowser:
http://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser/
may make this possible, though.
Regards.

I am trying to stop my Xbox from connecting to my Airport extreme base station and only connect to my airport express extender. Anyone have any ideas?

I have an aiport extreme base station in my living room and an airport express in my bedroom extending the network. For some reason my xbox along with some other devices always connects to the extreme base station in the living room which has a very low signal. Is there a way to setup a seperate network for my express extender so that I can connect only certain devices? HELP

You would probably want your Express to join the network if an extender isn't required. Reset to factory settings and join the network.
If you do want your Express as an extender run an Ethernet cable between the Express and the Verizon router and set the Express up to be in bridge mode, with the same WiFi network name and password as your Verizon router.

Mac Mini Bluetooth Connections Issues with Airport Extreme

Hi,
The issue I'm having is my apple bluetooth devices will not connect to my mac mini. This problem started a few weeks ago and i have narrowed it down to my Airport Extreme which is right next to my Mac Mini. I have tried adjusting the channels and removing the Wide channel option on the Airport Extreme this has helped I can use my magic pad (not really up to par but it works). When I disconnect my Airport all my bluetooth devices work great. Moving my airport extreme isn't an option without a large amount of work putting in a new cable outlet. I don't know what changed from a few weeks ago as the devices have always been within inches of each other and worked fine.
I was trying to find a way to disable the 2.4 band on the airport extreme but this for as far as i know can't be done. I'm running out of ideas on what to do next any help would be great.

Are you sure it's not the monitor? Monitors have been known to do this.
Try changing the broadcast channel on the AEX using the Airport Utility.

Can an original Airport card connect to an Airport Extreme base station

I have an old iBook G3 10.3.9 with an original Airport card (System Profile says "Wireless Card Firmware Version: 8.70"). This computer/airport card connects fine with an old Airport Graphite.
But it will not connect with my main Airport Extreme 802.11n (1st Generation), running in 802.11n (802.11b/g compatible) mode. This Airport is using WPA/WPA2 Personal wireless security. This Airport Extreme works fine with my other computers and devices.
Does anybody know, offhand, whether it is just a setting, or is this completely unworkable?
Thanks in advance for any input.

I cannot remember all the details regarding the older iBooks, but suspect that the wireless card and possibly the operating system that you are using on the iBook cannot support WPA/WPA2 wireless encryption.
As a test....
Temporarily turn off the wireless security on the 1st Gen AirPort Extreme, then see if the iBook can connect to the wireless network that way.
If it can, this tells you that the wireless is at least working on the iBook....but it cannot connect to the WPA/WPA2 network.
The solution might be to use a USB wireless adapter that can handle the higher encryption levels, or connect the iBook using Ethernet.
If the iBook still cannot connect when security is disabled during the test, then the iBook has additional issues that you may or may not wish to pursue.

Several PC and Mac connectivity issues with Airport Extreme Base Station

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